Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.
This book is: the most fun you’ll ever have witnessing the Apocalypse.
Other elements: angels, demons, condensed milk, dogs, aging mediums, talkative Satanist nuns, the nature of humanity, impending doom, hijinks.
Read it: if you enjoy wry humor. If you giggle at any of the quotes below.
Overall rating: 9.75/10

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Daughter of Smoke and Bone #1) by Laini Taylor.
This book is: an enthralling, beautifully written story.
Other elements: hope, magic, sexy angels, creation myths, a star-crossed-lovers romance, blue hair.
Read it: if you appreciate wonderful writing, vivid description, creative storylines, magic, Prague, art, or romance between people who are very different.
Overall rating: 9.75/10

The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson.
This series is: utterly spellbinding, impeccably crafted epic fantasy that will melt your face off.
Other elements: worldbuilding like you’ve never imagined and a badass ladyhero.
Read it: If you enjoy epic fantasy and don’t have anything urgent to do (because you won’t want to put this down).
Overall rating: 9.5/10

Uprooted by Naomi Novik.
This book is: simply wonderful.
Other elements: Wizards, politics, the dark desires of humankind, love, misguided impulses, being yourself, power.
Read it: if you love a good story, the feeling of a real fairy tale (the scary kind) and strong female heroines.
Overall rating: 9.5/10

An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir.
This book is: a well-written, engaging story with multiple badass women characters.
Other elements: duty, fate, violence, revolution, doing what is right vs what you’re expected to do.
Read it: if you like stories about revolution, sword-fighting, adventure, or really interesting, strongly crafted characters. Bonus: women kicking butt.
Overall rating: 9.25/10

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver.
This book is: terrifying and brilliant.
Other elements: parenting, marriage, children, psychopaths, motherhood, school shootings.
Read it: if you enjoy really chillingly brilliant characters. If you’re not prone to nightmares.
Overall rating: 9.25/10

Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt.
This book is: quiet, eerie, beautiful.
Other elements: growing up, sisters, art, alcoholism, AIDS, family secrets, being a teenager, music, being an outsider, the sacredness of objects, Mozart’s Requiem.
Read it: if you can identify with a young girl who likes to hide in the woods alone so that she can pretend to be in the Middle Ages.
Overall rating: 9/10

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.This book is: strong and sweet and amazing.
Other elements: the nature of love, finding yourself, the purpose of life.
Read it: if you love solidly written stories about vivid characters.
Overall rating: 9/10

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.
This book is: beautiful.
Other elements: fate, destiny, following your dreams, love.
Read it: if you enjoy a healthy dose of magical realism.
Overall rating: 9/10

Outlander (Outlander #1) by Diana Gabaldon.
This book is: a historical fiction time-travel romance.
Other elements: Romance! Adventure! Manly men in kilts! Rebellion. Sex. Botany.
Read it: If you like the idea of adventuring (and romancing) with manly men in kilts.
Overall rating: 9/10

Sevan Bicakci by Vivienne Becker.
This book is: a gorgeously-illustrated look at the life, inspiration, and work of Turkish master jeweler Sevan Bicakci.
Other elements: the culture of art and artistry in Turkey, incredible jewelry.
Read it: if you love jewelry, art, beautiful things, the Ottoman aesthetic, or just enjoy gorgeous images.
Overall rating: 9/10

This book is: sad and gritty but ultimately beautiful.
Other elements: car crashes, rescued dogs, unlikely friendships, self-discovery, hope.
Read it: if you like vividly written characters.
Overall rating: 8.75

Cinder by Marissa Meyer.
This book is: a futuristic, dystopian reimagining of the Cinderella story.
Other elements: cyborgs, people who live on the moon, global pandemics, hot Princes, strong and admirable women.
Read it: if you love a good fractured fairy tale.
Overall rating: 8.75/10

My Charmed Life By Beth Bernstein.
This book is: a memoir about a strong woman and her jewelry.
Other elements: airplanes, divorce, family dynamics, marriage, jewelry, being a woman.
Read it: if you love (or even like) jewelry and stories about inspirational women.
Overall rating: 8.75/10

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey.
This book is: an extremely cool take on the global pandemic SciFi trope.
Other elements: Almost-zombies, scientific experiments, David Attenborough, fungus, survival.
Read it: if you love flawlessly-crafted narratives and fascinating fictional science.
Overall rating: 8.5/10

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins.
This book is: excellent and strange.
Other elements: God(s), destiny, the true power behind the universe, fate, knowledge, fatherhood, love, lions.
Read it: if you like the idea of a really well-written story that is like nothing you’ve ever read before.
Overall rating: 8.5/10

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan.
This book is: loosely William-and-Kate-inspired and exactly what I hoped it would be.
Other elements: my own personal fantasies, the English Royal family, weddings, an American exchange student in England.
Read them: if you like a good love story and especially if you find the idea of princes interesting.
Overall rating: 8.5/10

Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King.
This book is: bright and sharp.
Other elements: teenage love, not wanting to repeat your family’s mistakes, what it means to be responsible, dealing with your baggage.
Read it:if you enjoy crisp writing and a good story.
Overall rating: 8.5/10

The Moment of Everything by Shelly King.
This book is: a story you can sink your teeth into.
Other elements: used books, a mean cat named Grendel, someone who reads as many historical romance novels as I do, all kinds of nerds, book clubs, a lady who is figuring out her life.
Read it: if you like hearing about smart, independent women (or if you are one). Bonus if you love used bookstores.
Overall rating: 8.5/10

Someone Else’s Love Story by Joshilyn Jackson.
This book is: almost like a chick flick but too smart and well written to feel trite.
Other elements: Aspergers, Southern manners, virgin birth, robberies, death, chemicals, poetry, flowers.
Read it: if you like good stories about vivid, interesting characters.
Overall rating: 8.25/10

Graceling (Graceling Realm #1) by Kristin Cashore.
This book is: A YA fantasy novel, the first in a series, about a girl with a supernatural gift for killing.
Other elements: Right vs wrong, romance, friendship.
Read it: If you like YA fantasy, if you enjoy ass-kicking women, if you liked The Hunger Games.
Overall rating: 8/10

Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older.
This book is: different in a good way.
Other elements: family legacies, street art, Brooklyn, art, how race affects personal identity, magic in the real world.
Read it: if you like the idea of magical that works through the art on the streets of NYC.
Overall rating: 8/10

The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine.
This book is: a 1920’s dance hall retelling of the fairy tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses.
Other elements: family, sisters, duty over love, self-identity, dancing, the 1920’s.
Read it: if you enjoy historical fiction, 1920’s dancing, and stories about sisters.
Overall rating: 8/10

Confessions of a Sociopath: A Life Spent Hiding in Plain Sight by M.E. Thomas.
This book is: fascinating.
Other elements: brain chemistry, sociopaths, the myth of “normal”, how people live their lives, parenting, psychology
Read it: if you are fascinated by the differences of people; if you think you, someone you know, or someone you have given birth to may be a sociopath.
Overall rating: 8/10

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
This book is: a well-written, totally insane psycho/mystery/love/crime story.
Other elements: Lies. Marriage. Public opinion. Love.
Read it: If you enjoy crime shows. If you like having your mind blown.
Overall rating: 8/10

The Escape by Mary Balogh.
This book is: refreshing and delightful.
Other elements: slightly illicit romance, war veterans, widows, narrowly-avoided scandal, Wales.
Read it: if you like historical fiction and character-driven romance novels with interesting plots, strong female characters, and good writing.
Overall rating: 8/10

The Escape by Mary Balogh.
This book is: refreshing and delightful.
Other elements: slightly illicit romance, war veterans, widows, narrowly-avoided scandal, Wales.
Read it: if you like historical fiction and character-driven romance novels with interesting plots, strong female characters, and good writing.
Overall rating: 8/10

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen.
This book is: genuinely heart-warming without being cheesy.
Other elements: family, self-acceptance, being different, mother-daughter relationships, body image.
Read it: if the cockles of your heart are chilly
Overall rating: 8/10

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson.This book is: heartbreaking and beautiful.
Other elements: PTSD, depression, broken families, drug addiction, trying to be a normal teenager when your family is damaged.
Read it: if you’re in the mood for something sad and strong.
Overall rating: 8/10

The Longings of Wayward Girls by Karen Brown.
This book is: quiet and poignant.
Other elements: friendship, secrets, women, duty, family, secrets Chanel No. 5.
Read it: If you like novels that peek into the lives of everyday people.
Overall rating: 7.75/10

Thin Space by Jody Casella.
This book is: dark and heart wrenching with a pinch of magical realism.
Other elements: twins, sibling relationships, the death of a teenage, identity,
Read it: if you love strong, complicated characters.
Overall rating: 7.75/10

The Diviners by Libba Bray.
This book is: lustrous and absorbing.
Other elements: flappers, slang, the occult, belief, legends, magic in the real world, a Museum of Creepy Crawlies.
Read it: if you love the idea of 1920’s NYC with a dash of magic.
Overall rating: 7.75/10

Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter.
This book is: a love story with several different love stories happening around it.
Other elements: old Hollywood glamor, scenic Italian coastlines, curses, Richard Burton.
Read it: if you’re in a romantic mood (or a bubble bath. I read most of this in a bubble bath.).
Overall rating: 7.75/10

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes,
This book is: an bright, engaging, character-driven novel.
Other elements: friendship, philosophy, being middle-aged.
Read it: if you are fascinated by excellent characters.
Overall rating: 7.75/10

Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll.
This book is: sharp and engaging.
Other elements: school violence, rape, eating disorders, the effect that violence has on the people who experience it.
Read it: if you like meaty, gritty, well-written stories.
Overall rating: 7.75/10

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon.
This book is: A story told from the point of view of a 15-year old boy with Asperger’s or autism.
Other elements: Pets, parenting a special needs child, math.
Read it: If you’re interested in psychology, if you appreciate excellent first-person perspective.
Overall rating: 7.5/10

Watch How We Walk by Jennifer LoveGrove.
This book is: brutally well written.
Other elements: Jehovah’s Witnesses, what it’s like to grow up in a very religious family, depression, being different, sister relationships.
Read it: if you love “the family next-door isn’t so normal after all” stories.
Overall rating: 7.5/10

The Vampire Academy series (1-6) by Richelle Mead.
This book (series) is: marvelously entertaining.
Other elements: ass-kicking ladies, vampires, world-saving, star crossed lovers, misunderstood teenagers, political plots.
Read it: if you like the idea of a sassy supernatural teenage heroine who is good at beating people up.
Overall rating: 7.5/10

The Last Adventure of Constance Verity by A. Lee Martinez.
This book is: truly strange but rather delightful.
Other elements: ninja thief ex-boyfriends, alternate universes, rogue fairy godmother ghosts trapped in pens, destiny, friendship.
Read it: if you’re in the mood for a totally off the wall tall tale of a novel.
Overall rating: 7.5/10

The Man with the Golden Torc by Simon R. Green.
This book is: silly.
Other elements: urban fantasy, magic, adventure, saving-the-world, conspiracy theories, humor.
Read it: if you have the right sense of humor (do you enjoy Terry Pratchett? Monty Python?).
Overall rating: 7.25/10

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides.
This book is: A book about college and relationships.
Other elements: Some degree of bildungsroman, life with manic depression/life with a manic depressive, how your parents affect who you are, the role of religion in a modern world, unrequited love.
Read it: If you are interested in early prescription treatments for manic depression, if you miss college, if you sympathize with characters having religious crises.
Overall rating: 7.2/10

Scandals of Classic Hollywood by Anne Helen Petersen.
This book is: an academic look at some of classic Hollywood’s controversial figures.
Other elements: the changing attitudes of society, social trends, the ever-changing nature of what is acceptable to the public eye, the evolution of the publicity machine.
Read it: if you like your classic Hollywood scandals with a bit of psychology and anthropology.
Overall rating: 7/10

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.
This book is: entertaining.
Other elements: siblings, myths, gods.
Read it: if you like stories about mythical characters, if you like Neil Gaiman, if you love karaoke.
Overall rating: 7/10

The Art Forger by Barbara Shapiro.
This book is: a great story.
Other elements: art, crime, forgery, Degas, Isabelle Gardener, the Gardener museum heist, Boston.
Read it: if you have any interest in the art world or if you don’t but you love a good story.
Overall rating: 7/10

The Assassin’s Curse (The Assassin’s Curse, #1) by Cassandra Rose Clarke.
This book is: the opening of a intriguing YA fantasy series.
Other elements: pirates, magicians, pirate gender roles, supernatural islands, aspiring lady pirates.
Read it: if the draw of a burgeoning 17-year-old lady pirate sounds awesome enough to get you through a slow-starting story.
Overall rating: 7/10

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians #1) by Rick Riordan.
This book is: about a boy who suddenly finds out that myths are real and he’s related to one. Adventure ensues.
Other elements: Parent/child relationships, Greek mythology, learning disabilities.
Read it: If you like YA fantasy, if you enjoy Greek myths, if you are 10 years old.
Overall rating: 6.9/10

Spoiled by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan.
This book is: like a cupcake for your brain.
Other elements: designer clothes, bleached teeth, protein bars, LA, rich kids.
Read it: If you have a sense of humor and like the idea of a Clueless/O.C./Gossip Girl mashup
Overall rating: 6.75/10

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge by Paul Krueger.
This book is: urban fantasy centering on the adventures of a group of magic-wielding, monster-fighting bartenders in Chicago.
Other elements: magical bartenders, hapless millennials, cocktails.
Read it: if you like the idea of a story about magical bartenders.
Overall rating: 6.75

The House of the Four Winds by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory.
This book is: a creative story that lacks pizazz.
Other elements: Magic, swordfighting, princesses seeking adventure, pirates, evil sorceresses, ships, sailors.
Read it: if you like fantasy, adventure, and pirates, and don’t mind very tame romances.
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones.
This book is: light and dreamy.
Other elements: hats, magic, sisters, love, green slime.
Read it: if you like whimsy and aren’t in the mood to think.
Overall rating: 6.5/10

The Kiss of Deception (Remnant Chronicles #1) by Mary E. Pearson.
This book is: promising, especially in the last few chapters.
Other elements: runaway princesses, assassins, princes in disguise.
Read it: if you like YA love triangles. If you’re okay waiting 3/4 of a book for the main characters to become truly interesting.
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Shards of Time by Lynn Flewelling.
This book is: not as bad as the worst books in this series, but also not in the top 3.
Other elements: Familiar characters, sarcasm, magic.
Read it: if you love the first three books of the Nightrunner series and need another Seregil and Alec fix, even if it’s going to be a watery, diluted one.
Overall rating: 6.5/10

Antonia Lively Breaks The Silence by David Samuel Levinson.
This book is: very well written but somewhat confusing.
Other elements: writers, betrayal, alcohol, the publishing industry, writer-ly angst, marriage, love, the nature of fiction.
Read it: if you love books about writers.
Overall rating: 6.25/10

Trains and Lovers by Alexander McCall Smith.
This book is: pleasant.
Other elements: Trains. Love.
Read it: if you’re in the mood for a non-committal but enjoyable peek into some strangers’ lives.
Overall rating: 6.25/10

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick.
This book is: entertaining in a made-for-tv-movie way.
Other elements: hidden agendas, infidelity, seduction, sex with inappropriate people, poison, snow.
Read it: if you want a sordid, easy read.
Overall rating: 6.25/10

The Selection (The Selection #1) by Kiera Cass.
This book is: entertaining.
Other elements: Reality tv, Princes, social strata, rebels, lies, beauty.
Read it: if you like the idea of a Hunger Games of marriage.
Overall rating: 6/10

The Passage by Justin Cronin.
This book is: a creative, well-written story that just did not float my boat.
Other elements: viruses, vampires, apocalypses, government cover-ups, doomedness of the future.
Read it: if you like adventure, sci fi, and battling monsters created by humankind’s folly.
Overall rating: 6/10

Soulwoven by Jeff Seymour.
This book is: true epic fantasy.
Other elements: dragons, souls, a varied cast of characters united in a common world-saving quest, baddies who want to do bad things, giant worms.
Read it: if epic fantasy is your jam.
Overall rating: 6/10

Arcana by Jessica Leake.
This book is: like a sugary snack. I enjoyed eating it, but I was hungry again later.
Other elements: magic, London society, young romance, secret evil societies, family secrets,
Read it: if you want something fluffy and aren’t feeling picky. If you liked the The Selection.
Overall rating: 5.5/10

Delia’s Shadow by Jaime Lee Moyer.
This book is: reminiscent of several other books that are better.
Other elements: ghosts, serial killers, Egyptian mythology.
Read it: if you like quiet books with overtones of crime and the supernatural.
Overall rating: 5/10

Astor Place Vintage by Stephanie Lehmann.
This book is: a great concept that didn’t quite work out.
Other elements: vintage New York, small businesses, affairs, women in the workplace, vintage clothing.
Read it: maybe if you’re really into stories about old New York.
Overall rating: 4.5/10

This book is: unremarkable.
Other elements: class differences, rich people acting badly.
Read it: if you like the idea of very watered down Downton Abbey.
Overall rating: 4.25/10

Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk.
This book is: flabbergasting.
Other elements: sex. STDs. Porn. Revulsion. Incest. Dandruff. Suicide.
Read it: if you have absolutely no threshold for depravity.
Overall rating: 4/10

The Elite by Kiera Cass.
This book is: meh.
Other elements: Reality tv, Princes, social strata, rebels, lies, beauty.
Read it: if you want to know what happened after the first book and don’t mind that it’s not going to be dazzlingly written.
Overall rating: 4/10

Sweet Tooth by Ian McEwan.
This book is: dull and irritating.
Other elements: pleasing men, washing smalls in a bedsit, poetry, the Russians, Britain in the 1970’s.
Read it: if you’re having trouble falling asleep, or if you like spy stories but prefer to remain very calm at all times.
Overall rating: 4/10

The Reluctant Matchmaker by Shobhan Bantwal.
This book is: boring with sprinkles of offensiveness.
Other elements: fat-shaming, sexism, romance between people of different heights, arranged marriages.
Read it: if the idea of an Indian-American main character is enough to make you forgive a lot of flaws. If you think women without husbands are pathetic.
Overall rating: 3/10

The Camelot Papers by Peter David.
This book is: dull and off-putting.
Other elements: an attempt at a satirical Camelot story.
Read it: if you’re a scholar of Arthurian interpretations and have read all of the others.
Overall rating: 3/10 (DNF)

The Paris Wife by Paula McLain.
This book is: Historical fiction about Ernest Hemingway and his first wife.
Other elements: Women not standing up for themselves, adultery, dependence on men, emotional abuse, alcoholism, polyamorous relationships, bullfighting.
Read it: If you are fascinated by Hemingway, if you like Lifetime movies, if you don’t mind weak female characters, you’re stranded somewhere with absolutely nothing else to do and have run out of thoughts.
Overall rating: 2/10

An Escapade and An Engagement by Annie Burrows.
This book is: a romance novel about a horrible woman and a horrible man who have an unconvincing relationship.
Other elements: Sex. Patriarchy. Golden ringlets.
Read it: If your only alternative is death.
Overall rating: 0.01/10